Masked Demigods
by Jess Violet
Summary: Chiron's hooves pounded on the ground. Slowly the chatter between the demigods silenced. "Campers, I fear we have a situation," he announced. "Recently monsters have been attacking in the normal world. More and more and we're afraid someone or something is trying to bring our world out in the open. So I'll need two heroes to fight alongside the Justice League and stop this."
1. Chapter 1

**After Heroes of Olympus and between season 1 and 2 of Young Justice. Spitfire isn't together yet. **

New York 17:35 Jan 17

"Don't you think it's unfair the heroes get all the credit while we fight monsters in the shadows?" Percy asked his girlfriend as he watched the Flash on TV.

"What," Annabeth said, leaning down to rest her head on his from behind the couch. "You want to put on a mask?"

The corner of his mouth tugged up. "Maybe," he said and leaned back, craning his neck to look up to her. "How awesome would that be?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Isn't it enough to be a hero in one world?"

"Yeah, but…" he started flustered.

She smiled and pecked him on the lips. "You just want to meet them, don't you?"

Percy pursed his lips and decided to ignore how she could see right through him. Of course he did. That's like meeting the gods, only then they didn't want to pulverize you where you stand.

The blonde plopped down next to him. "They're just normal people under the mask."

"I know," Percy said, "but still, it's fun to think about." He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling. "What would my supername be?"

New York 20:56 Jan 21

"So not feeling the aster," Robin muttered to himself as he ran through the streets. Cars honked in the always busy city. People yelled at them as Superboy leapt in front of cars, not caring about the chaos he caused. He activated his wrist computer and opened a map. Red blinking he saw the creature they were chasing. It bounded through the streets with a fast pace.

"_Superboy, Robin,"_ Aqualad's voice sounded in his head. _"Look for the next dead end. Kid Flash, chase it to their coordinates. Miss M, Artemis and I will close of its attempts to escape."_

_"Got it," _Robin acknowledged. New York was full of crosses, dead ends and high buildings. Surely there must be somewhere they could ambush it. Whatever it was. He scanned his map for closed off streets and zoomed in on a part of the city. Then he saw the red dot had turned around.

_"Little help?" _Wally squealed through the link. _"Prey became predator! Prey became-" _ His words were cut off with a loud 'oof'.

_"Wally!"_ M'gann yelled.

Wally didn't answer.

Robin glanced sideways at Superboy and doubted. Then he pulled out a grappling hook and shot it to the next building. It reeled him in quickly. A second later he was zooming over a giant black creature that held Kid Flash pinned.

Robin threw down a handful of explosives and jumped down next to Aqualad. They exploded but the creature only huffed annoyed and reared to look for whatever threw them. It was enough for Miss M to fly in and snatch Wally away before its claws landed again. Its nails tore at her cape, but she pulled free.

Artemis fired arrow after arrow, but they just bounced off. Superboy roared and leapt over them, throwing a punch that would've knocked out a bear. The monster stumbled back fazed. Superboy kept attacking until it swatted him away and crashed into the wall. He slid down groaning.

"How did that not hurt him?" Robin yelled frustrated.

"I do not know," Aqualad pondered. "But we can't give up." He took out his water bearers and created his swords, tattoos glowing.

Robin nodded and got his eskrima sticks from his utility belt. He doubted it would work. They both charged, slashing and stabbing. The creature growled and capered around, more bothered than hurt. Robin got in a few solid hits, but it hardly seemed to notice.

Artemis shot a foam arrow and it stuck in its fur. It bit and snapped it in half, but too late. The foam expanded rapidly. Still, it didn't capture, only slow down.

_"M'gann, how are Kid Flash and Superboy?"_ Aqualad asked, slashing at the creature's legs. It beat him away with a kick.

_"They'll be fine, but can't help now," _she answered.

Aqualad gritted his teeth. As expected.

_"Should we contact the league for help" _Megan asked.

Robin knew they should. Their attacks hardly had any effect. Some minor cuts or wounds, but that was it. It wasn't even breathing heavily, while they all were. Knocking it out wasn't going to work. So he reached for his ear reluctantly.

"I knew it," a voice said, too happy for someone who saw a giant black monster.

Robin whirled and saw two teens running at them, a girl dressed in grey and a boy in dark blue and green. Both masked.

"Happy now?" the girl said sarcastically.

"They need help," the guy replied and looked at the heroes, hoping for confirmation.

"Stay back," Aqualad warned, holding out his arm and facing the monster.

The guy scoffed. "Yeah, no," he said and dashed under Aqualad's arm. "You'd better, though." He took out a sword from who-knows-where and challenged the creature. "Hey, Shaggy!"

The girl gave them an apologetic smile. "Not my idea," and joined her partner. They nodded once and then both ran another way. The monster was torn for a second who to attack, and got deep slices in both his sides. Robin gaped at the big wounds. How-?

Roaring angrily it struck out at the guy, who had created the biggest gash with his sword. BlueGreen rolled under him. Shaggy looked underneath his legs and saw the guy boost up Grey and grinning. "Who's a good boy?"

The girl landed on its back and drove in her knife right under its ear in its neck. The creature yelped and evaporated in golden dust. "Not you," the guy finished.

Grey landed in a crouch to break her fall. After standing up she sheathed her knife in the small pouch resting on her hip. The guy's sword had disappeared.

"Okay," Kid Flash said, sitting up rubbing his head. "What just happened?"

The guy grinned. "We saved your ass."

While Kid flash and Artemis protested that they didn't need help and Miss M flew over to Conner to help him up, Robin and Aqualad studied the two.

The girl was dressed in a grey suit that reached till above her knees and had darker hard shoulder pads. Her blonde hair was in a ponytail like Artemis, but was shorter and curly. Her mask didn't reveal her eyes, though anyone could guess she had grey eyes. Her boots had points on the ankles, looking sharp and dangerous. And then there was the loose belt with owl-pouch where her knife was. The owl was small, but stared intensely from the fabric.

The boy's suit was fullcovering from shoulders to feet, and had a gradient from blue to green down to his feet. A green trident was visible on the blue chest and he also had shoulder pads. His mask was the same blue. He had exactly one pocket on his thigh, where his hands reached. He would only have to form a fist to grab whatever was kept there.

They both looked around sixteen or seventeen.

"Who are you?" Aqualad demanded, pointing his watersword at the guy's trident shirt. He only eyed the sword smirking.

The girl answered before he could. "Seaweed Brain."

"We did not agree on that," he said loudly.

The girl crossed her arms grinning. "You just have to get better insults. I could actually go with Wise-Girl."

"Owl Head," he threw back.

"Still not working, Kelp Head." She studied the team for a second and one by one strated stating their names. "Robin, Superboy, Aqua…lad, Flash boy, Miss Martian… and Arrowgirl?"

"It's Kid Flash!" Wally yelled annoyed.

"And Artemis," Arrowgirl said.

"Point being," the girl continued. "I could guess almost all of your names without having heard of you. You're not very creative."

"You haven't?" the guy exclaimed, more shocked than the team.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I've heard of Boy Wonder."

"Ha!" Robin said to his teammates. They ignored him and focused on the two.

"Alright," Wally said, looking at them for a second. "So you're… Green Trident and Grey Owl."

Both burst out laughing. "Yeah, that's not going to work," they agreed on.

"Then who are you?" Aqualad asked again.

Not-Green-Trident pushed the tip of the sword away with his finger. "Don't know yet. Still thinking."

"So you're just two wannabes?" KF said, even though he'd seen their trained performance and had defeated something so easily that they'd hardly scratched. And just looking at them, they were not wannabes. "Okay, you're not wannabes. But what do you want?"

Kelp Head shrugged. "In."

"We know about the monster-attacks," Wise-Girl stepped up. "And we know how to fight them. You need us."

The team exchanged glances.

_"Robin?" _Aqualad addressed him.

Robin gave a curt nod. _ "It's true. There've been a lot of strange attacks lately."_

Wally huffed telepathically. _"We didn't need help to defeat those, right?"_

_"No," _Robin agreed, _"but the Justice League has its hands full."_

_"Maybe we could use some extra heroes,"_ Ms M said softly.

Artemis shrugged. _"They do know how to beat them. She knew exactly where to hit."_

_"I don't trust them,"_ KF argued._ "It could be a ruse."_

_"You're just jealous, Baywatch,"_ she grinned, waiting smugly for his reaction.

_"Am not!"_ he yelled. _"Of what should I be?"_

Artemis extended her arm in the direction of the girl, who raised her eyebrow at them , _"Exhibit A," _ and to the guy, who waited for their verdict, _"and Exhibit B."_

The team tuned out at their batter. _"I don't trust them yet," _Aqualad said, _"but they're our only lead on these attacks."_

Robin agreed. _"Working with them or fighting them, they know something."_

Kaldur turned to the others for confirmation. M 'gann nodded and Superboy shrugged.

_"You're outvoted, KF," _Robin informed the speedster.

He looked away from Artemis. _"Aw, man."_

Artemis turned to the two show-ups. "You're in."

The guy cheered and fist bumped the air. "Yes!"

Grey elbowed him and whispered something in his ear. He straightened, rubbing his side.

_"We're on a mission, remember? – Right," _Superboy told in the mental link, having picked up the words with super-hearing.

"Though you're on trial," Aqualad added.

The guy's face fell, but the girl nodded. "Fair enough."

**I haven't been active on FanFiction for a long time. Just thought I'd post this, and see how it would be recieved. **

**I have a vague idea what's going to happen, but suggestions are always welcome. Also, who can think of the best superhero names? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! **

**Thanks for all the favs follows and reviews. I loved some of the names youu suggested. I already had the idea for Percy's name and was glad one of you agreed with me. I also loved Torrent and Typhoon for Percy. I'm still unsure about Annabeth's name, the suggestions were awesome. I'd love to hear more. **

Mount Justice 22:46 Jan 21

Percy grunted as he hit the ground.

'Riptide, Fail,' the computer announced.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he muttered to himself as he scrambled to his feet.

Black Canary watched him with her hands on her hips. "Come on, that's it?" She aimed her eyes at the team. "And you said he was trained?"

Robin raised his shoulders, trying to keep from laughing.

Black Canary was one of the few in the Justice League not impressed with the new vigilantes. And in his first duel, Percy had failed miserably.

Percy opened his mouth to retort, but Annabeth stepped on the circle and softly pushed him away. "My turn." She set her feet apart in a fighting position and Canary followed suit.

"Bring it on."

Annabeth waited a second, studying Canary's stance. Then she jerked forward and faked a punch. While Canary moved to block it, she spun around her and jabbed at the base of the woman's neck, but missed. Canary swiped one leg at Annabeth's. She had expected it and jumped over, trying to land another hit, but hadn't expected Canary to swiftly bring her leg back. Her foot connected to Annabeth's side. Annabeth smacked down on the floor. 'Smartass, fail.'

Annabeth jumped up at yelled at Robin: "Change that!" Robin, KF and even Percy laughed, though he tried to hide it. "It's not even funny, _Riptide_."

Percy smiled. "Sorry, but it kind of is," he snickered once more.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and decided to leave it. Percy's new name wasn't original, but she wanted something better. They'd hardly had time to think about it before Robin needed something to input into the computer to work the Zeta tubes.

She almost jumped at a hand on her shoulder. "You're okay," Black Canary said. "With some training you can get far."Annabeth turned to the woman. "You've been trained with weapons, haven't you?" Annabeth nodded and raised her dagger from her hip, showing the blade. Canary returned the nod. "You're used to the advantage of the length. I would've had that knife in my neck." She turned her gaze to Percy. "And he uses a sword." It was hardly a question. Annabeth didn't have time to confirm before the computer announced the arrival of 16- Red tornado.

Light finally revealed a red robot and Annabeth couldn't help but be surprised.

Tornado turned to acknowledge them all before resting his gaze, as far as he had one, on her and Percy. "Ah, I heard of you."

She just accepted the fact he had spoken without moving anything, but was itching to ask how he did that without vocal cords. She was just glad Leo wasn't here, he would've been all over the robot trying to find out how he worked.

"If you don't mind, Black Canary needs to come with me," he turned to the team as Canary moved to his side. "Team, show them the cave." Annabeth caught the hidden undertone. _Don't let them out of sight._

After the two leaguers had left, Kid Flash announced he knew the first stop. "Fridge, here I come!" He zoomed off and the others followed, walking toward the kitchen.

Percy fell in step next to her, a bit behind the rest of the group. "They don't like us, do they?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Chiron sent us for a reason."

"I know," Percy mumbled. "But how are they going to trust us if we wear masks?"

"They can't know who we are," she reminded him. "No leads." She glanced at the team, Wally had already dug into the fridge. "Though I'm not sure we can trust them."

"Why?" Percy asked. "They're heroes."

"Under the mask they're still people with other lives."

Percy glanced from the team to Annabeth. "You know who they are?"

"Sure," she shrugged, as if 'no biggie.'

"How?" he inquired.

She tried to hide her smile. "Well, Wally told me the first few minutes we were here."

In her peripheral vision she saw Superboy hit Kid Flash over the head. "Dude, what was that for?" the speedster complained.

That ended their conversation. She didn't know what powers Superboy had, but apparently super-hearing. And thinking back, it hadn't made them seem trustworthy.

They joined the team in the kitchen, Wally inhaling cookies and Ms M starting a new batch. Artemis kept her distance, leaning back against the counter. The other three boys were discussing, probably about them.

"So…" the Martian said after a while, taking off her gloves, "What made you want to join?"

Annabeth pointed at Percy and reached for a cookie before they were all gone, looking up at Ms Martian for permission. The green girl nodded. "He decided so," Annabeth said.

Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah…" quickly he restored himself. "We heard about the attacks. We've been trained to fight these monsters and…"

"By whom?" Robin inquired.

Percy ignored this question. "And we wanted to help."

Everyone knew they were hiding something. But weren't they all? All of them were still in their costumes, masks and all.

"What if we don't believe you?" Superboy said, stepping out of the small group, looking down on Percy. Percy didn't back down.

"Then that's your problem," Annabeth answered. All eyes were back on her but she didn't care about the pressure. She knew she was supposed to act nice and trustworthy, but the first thing she always did in a new group was show everyone she was _not _a dumb blonde and she would _not_ let people walk over her. "Your Justice League can't defeat these monsters without our help."

"Because you were trained to?" Robin said skeptically.

"Exactly."

"Just you two?" he continued.

"No," Annabeth said, a little fear creeping on the team's faces. "He volunteered us. But there are many more of us who want to come."

She didn't need to be part of their mental link to know what they were asking. How many of them were there?

"So, if we're not happy with the two of you, we could ask for two others?" Robin said.

Camp Half-Blood 14:05 Jan 20

Chiron's hooves pounded on the ground. Slowly the chatter between the demigods silenced.

"Campers, I fear we have a situation," he announced.

Most teens groaned. "Again?" rose from the Demeter table.

"I swear it wasn't us!" Travis yelled.

Chiron raised an eyebrow at the Stoll brothers, but didn't say anything. They would get what they deserve. Camp had a different kind of justice, but it worked as well.

"Recently monsters have been attacking in the normal world. More and more and we're afraid someone or something is trying to bring our world out in the open."

"How is that a bad thing?" an Apollo camper asked.

"Do you know what happens when gods, demigods or monsters reach the world?" Chiron waited for an answer.

The children spoke in hushed tones. A couple names and words fell repeatedly. "War… Problems…Panic… Holocaust…Outcast…Death…"

"Not good," Chiron concluded.

"What's the plan?" Clarisse asked. "Don't they have like, a Justice League?"

"This apparent league," Mr D scoffed, "Can hardly handle these monsters."

"So they need our help," Chiron declared. "But they can't know what we are." He waited a second for that to sink in. "So I need two strong demigods to gain the trust of the league and let them defeat whoever is behind these attacks. Once we're in, we can send more of us. But first, who would be willing…"

Half of the campers' hands raised at 'who'.

Chiron overlooked his charges. "Who can keep our secrets, fight alongside the league, is trustworthy and never forget the danger." Hands fell. It sounded like too much of a job. With two wars still heavy upon all of them, many of them weren't into fighting and danger.

He decided to pick from the counselors. Hermes' Stolls weren't exactly trustworthy and Clarisse didn't have the attitude. Clovis, no. Leo couldn't focus or keep his mouth shut. Piper could charmspeak everyone in trusting her or win trust on her own, but was still in training. Katie wasn't really a fighter, except when it came to the Stolls. Maybe he was picking favorites, maybe it was logic, maybe it was his enthusiasm. "Percy, Annabeth?"

New York 20:34 Jan 21

"Remember, no leads on who you are," Chiron had left them with. Now they were standing somewhere in New York city, dressed ridiculous, but apparently necessary, waiting for an attack.

"No leads," Percy mumbled, pacing.

"Identities obviously," Annabeth said, playing with her mask. It didn't bother her sight but hid her eyes. "Other names, other attitude?"

Percy shook his head. "Maybe a little bit, but Chiron picked us for a reason." He grinned and opened his arms wide. "We're irresistible!"

Annabeth laughed at him. "Don't try cocky."

He mumbled something, a 'fine' at the tip of his tongue. Then he smiled mischievously. He took a few quick strides in her direction. On instinct she raised her hands, which now touched his chest. Their noses brushed and she could feel his breath, her own hitching involuntarily. "What about confident, babe?"

She would've stayed frozen if not for the 'babe'. A laugh grumbled at the back of her throat. She tried to stop it, but it came out as a snort. Then she just laughed t him again, leaning on his for support.

"Okay, fine," Percy muttered.

She held up a finger to tell him to wait until she regained her posture. "Sorry, Seaweed Brain. You're goofy and oblivious. This is not you."

"Isn't that kind of the point?" he said, resting his forehead on hers. "No leads."

Annabeth aimed her eyes at the ground. "But we'll have to keep it up." A smile played her lips. "If I start laughing every time you…" she stifled a laugh. "No babe, okay?"

He agreed. "Maybe," he said solemnly. "There shouldn't be links between us at all. If they get one of us, they'll know the other. So either Percy and Annabeth don't know each other, or Trident and Owlgirl were never together."

Annabeth nodded. He had a point. The links made sense. And since everyone in the 'real world' already knew about them, the only ones they could change were their hero-lives. Plus it would be fun to mess with his head. He'd let her wait for five years, now she would get her revenge. "On one condition," she said.

"What?" he asked suspiciously.

"We don't use those names."

Percy laughed. "I can live with that." He raised his hand to cup her cheek and leaned down to kiss her.

A loud crash made Annabeth look away. Something was happening a few streets away. "We should go."

She took a few steps before looking back at Percy. His expression was a mix of excitement for the league and disappointment. This should be fun, she thought.

**Most of this was a flashback, next chapter will be more of Riptide and Smartass with the team (who, no, don't like them. Yet.)**


	3. Chapter 3

Mount Justice 7: 37 Jan 22

"Moooorning!" a chipper Wally said. He walked into the kitchen stretching. The room currently held Robin, Artemis and the new two. Immediately he adjusted his stretch into flexing his biceps and showing off. Artemis rolled her eyes and picked up her coffee.

Wally sat down next to Robin and leaned over the table to the new girl. She still wore her mask, her hair was in a sloppy ponytail, but did wear street clothes. Same for Riptide: mask and civvies. He leaned back on the table, next to where Grey sat, his back half to Wally.

"Sleep well, Sleeping Beauty?" Wally asked. Everyone had crashed at Mount Justice last night, too tired to get home and they couldn't leave the two alone here.

"I noticed the guard," she only answered.

It caused a pause in the hardly-existing conversation until Wally continued on a different path. "Mount Justice is a pretty cool place, you know. It's basically the entire mountain, hollowed out by Superman and the Green Lanterns."

Blonde Owl looked at him over her cup. "Really?"

Wally leaned back in his back, balancing on two legs. "Uh-huh," he bragged, now he got her attention. "The league used to work from here, but now it's our place."

"Doesn't everyone know by know? Is it hidden from the naked eye or something?" she asked, honestly interested.

"Nope," Wally grinned. "We're…"

"They know you know they know about this place, so it's safe," she mumbled to herself. "You're hiding in plain sight."

Wally's jaw dropped and Robin grinned. He wasn't the only one. KF quickly restored himself. "Brains and beauty-oof." His words were cut off.

Artemis kicked Wally's chair out from under him, causing him to fall. "Stop it, Baywatch. They're together."

Grey set her cup down and glanced at Riptide nervously. "What? No… no, we're not," she said, stuttering slightly.

Artemis looked at their shocked faces. "Wait, seriously?"

Riptide nodded. "Yeah, we're friends."

"Of course," Grey said logically. "You don't date teammates, one of the first rules."

Wally heard, but saw a chance. "Little different here, babe."

She bit her lip. Everyone else saw it as a way to keep from laughing, he saw it as flirtatiously. "We're not that strict," he told, "Superboy and Ms. Martian are a couple."

He didn't see how Riptide's hands gripped tightly at the table, every muscle tense. Robin saw perfect blackmail material.

"I still carry my knife, you know," Grey calmly informed him.

Riptide's grip loosened slightly and Robin laughed at his best friend. "She got you!"

"Minor setback," Wally hissed back. He jumped up and set his chair right with superspeed. It didn't impress anyone.

"So you are single?" Artemis asked, most of her attention on the boy glaring holes in Kid Idiot.

Grey showed her hand. "Do you see a ring on this finger?"

Her hand was bare of course. KF leaned over to Robin. "Was that a hint or what?"

Robin shrugged, though his expression showed he knew. He was grinning at Riptide. Riptide caught his knowing glance and quickly looked away.

"Why do you carry a knife?" Wally asked, trying to get back in the conversation.

"For this exact reason," she countered.

Wally laughed dismissively. "Bluff. She wouldn't use it," he told Robin smugly.

The blonde roughly set her tea down and whipped out her knife, slowly moving it side to side, catching light to show its sharp edges. "Wanna try, Wall-man?"

"Good morning, team," Kaldur walked in. He stopped abruptly at the sight of Grey with her knife. "What's going on?"

"We're watching Wally get blown off," Robin informed him happily.

"Dude!" the speedster exclaimed.

Suddenly Riptide grabbed Grey's wrist and dragged her away, grabbing Aqualad along. "Show us the training room," he demanded.

"Don't forget the magic word!" Robin yelled after them.

"Abracadabra," Riptide yelled back dramatically.

Robin leaned back pleased. "I like this guy," he stated. Nobody ever returned his childish nonsense. He was Robin. People often forget he was still a kid.

"Tell me about it," Artemis said dreamily, sitting down next to Boy Wonder.

Wally did not want to 'tell her about it'. "Did you check them out yet?" he asked Robin.

"You two certainly did," the kid answered. Artemis didn't even protest. "But yes, I tried a background check."

"And?"

"And," he said, "I couldn't narrow it down enough. We have hardly anything on them."

They knew it was true. The two had come from nowhere, with nothing for Robin to search with, except for height, hair and skin color and well-trained with weapons. The guy had a New York accent, but New York was huge.

"The Owl and the trident have to be a clue," he told himself, but couldn't figure it out. They were random symbols. "Artemis, do you…" he cut himself off with a smile. "Artemis."

"What?" the archer asked.

Robin was already typing away on his wrist computer. "You're names after a goddess right?"

"I guess," she answered.

"Artemis is the Greek goddess of the hunt," Robin said. "And I believe the owl and a trident symbolize gods too. Got it." He read off his small screen that showed the two symbols. "Poseidon and Athena, gods of the sea and wisdom, crafts and strategy."

"Great!" Wally said. Another clue.

"Yeah, great," Artemis said sarcastically. "How is this going to help us find out who they are?"

Wally's smile faded. "I guess it doesn't."

"And here would be the main training room," Aqualad said, holding out his arm to motion to the room.

Percy looked around, it held multiple punching bags and a box full of gear. A station with bars and mats occupied a big part. Of course there was a lot of free space for sparring. "Looks good." He turned to Annabeth with a challenging expression, twisting his pen between his fingers. "Wanna go?"

She returned a smile. "Let's."

In one quick motion, Percy uncapped Riptide and struck. The blade met Annabeth's knife with a clang. Immediately he moved his sword to swipe at her side, what she also blocked. She pushed him away, striking back. The bronze met again and again in a fury of sparks. The two demigods twisted and slashed, stabbed and jumped, swiped and turned, neither gaining the upper hand.

Finally when their blades were pushing off against the other, Annabeth suddenly ducked under their weapons, making Percy stumble forward. Before he noticed what she was planning, a push made him fall to the ground. Rolling away to avoid her knife, he hooked his feet behind her ankles, bringing her down. She hit the ground next to him. Quickly he swung his leg over and set his hands on the ground at either side of her face. She had nowhere to go.

"I win," Percy whispered childlike.

"You sure?" she asked sweetly.

Percy felt her knife pinch through his shirt, the tip over his heart. "Tie," he admitted.

"Great moves."

Percy's head turned at the reminder of Aqualad's presence. Annabeth saw the opportunity and pushed Percy sideways, switching positions. Now straddling him, she held her knife at his neck. "I win."

He ignored the switch and focused on Aqualad. "Thanks."

Aqualad looked down on the two amused. "Why didn't you use them to fight Black Canary?"

Percy tried to shrug, but Annabeth held him down. "I don't know," he confessed. "Are you allowed to use weapons?"

"I cannot be sure," Aqualad said, in thought, "sometimes." He smiled. "I'd like a duel with you one day, Riptide."

After Percy nodded, he left the gym and Percy let his head fall back on the floor, closing his eyes to calm the adrenaline. Annabeth however, stayed put, playing with her knife. Carefully Percy opened one eye. She was right in his face. "Ready to admit defeat?" Percy only grinned and twisted, rolling them over. When he was on top again, Annabeth pulled him down and continued the roll's momentum until she slammed him on the ground with a satisfactory grunt out of him. "Not happening, _Riptide_."

They were both breathing heavily and were grinning involuntarily. Annabeth's hair had fallen out of the ponytail, the curls now blocking their faces from the security cameras.

"I still say you stole that name," she told him.

Percy made a 'what are you going to do about it' face. "And I think smartass is perfect for you."

"Hm," she rolled her eyes and pushed herself off from his chest, standing up. "We should get back." She held out her hand for him.

"Probably," he answered reluctantly and took her hand, letting himself be pulled up. Then he went to pick up his sword. The letters of Anaklusmos appeared on the side of the pen. Maybe he had stolen the name from the sword, but the sword had grown to become a part of him. Riptide felt _right_.

"Are you coming?"

Percy hurried to her side, stuffing the pen in his pocket. "I know that comment was at me, by the way," he whispered in her ear.

Annabeth gave him an innocent look. "What comment?" She smiled and nudged his shoulder, walking ahead. Still her hand reached for her necklace, where the ring used to be.

_For the reference of the ring, see my story Hide Your Phone. _

_Suggestions for names or storyline are still welcome. _


End file.
